Hey Gang. (1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2WD, in-line 6 cyc.) Last night, I drove a few miles to the local gas station/food store. I killed the engine as normal. Upon returning, I inserted the key and turned it to start. Nothing happened. No dash lights, no engine turnover; nothing, so I turned off to try again. That's when all the analog gauges started spinning around with seemingly no power with the dash lights blinking strangely, so I dropped the shifter down to 'N' and tried to start. Again, all the analog gauges started spinning wildly, but this time when I turned the key off, I could hear a 'clicking' sound coming from the drivers side that seemed to have a pattern to it, so I popped the hood to check. The hood lite was dim, but was working, so I wiggled the positive wire bundle and the hood lite got brighter and that clicking sound stopped. I got back in and this time, the dash lights lit up, but then they went dim and then gone! As I turned the key to off and on, the dash lights tried to work, and then I dropped the shifter down to 'N' thinking the safety switch had gone bad, but power was at first restored, but the gauges started spinning around again! The 2nd attempt allowed the engine to start. The trip meter, radio stations memory and all other pre-sets were zeroed or back to blank with the clock at 12:00. I let the engine run for a few minutes and then I had a feeling to kill the engine and try to start it normally. It did, with everything working except the trip meter and other pre-sets, but the programmed radio stations were restored! Gads man, this was weirdness! * So today, I want to clean the battery terminals and wire brush the holders, although I steam clean the engine 2 or 3 times a year and keep the battery terminals cleaned with NO corrosion. Q.: is there a 'reset button' if the battery is changed or if the terminals are taken apart and cleaned? The battery is almost 2 years old being a 5 year premium battery and otherwise is a good battery. What the hell was all that about? It was like nothing I had ever witnessed in my over 50 years of driving and shade-tree repair work. Any answers or ideas? PLEASE HELP! :eek:

Escape

05-22-2012 07:35 AM

Re: Weird Twilight Zone Power Oddity!

You have a poor connection somewhere. The clicking you heard was a relay not getting enough power to work properly. Check your wiring and connections.

2005JGC

05-23-2012 03:43 PM

Re: Weird Twilight Zone Power Oddity!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Escape
(Post 633122)

You have a poor connection somewhere. The clicking you heard was a relay not getting enough power to work properly. Check your wiring and connections.

Agreed! The battery post connections are VERY common failures on the WJ... Make sure they are both clean and tight.